The Odegaard family: in progress: December's perspective on a September vacation

New River Gorge!

Words probably can't describe how excited I was to get out of town on vacation after a somewhat crummy first half of the year. Plus, we'd be heading to place I was excited to explore with all my newfound history-knowledge perspective--the colonial area of Virginia. There was some doubt about whether we'd be able to take the vacation as planned, as I finished radiation on Tuesday and we were set to disembark on Friday... but, thank goodness, I was feeling totally up for it.

Packing was a tiny bit different, as I required extra sun care (thank you, to those who gifted and loaned!), wig supplies, various hats, and all my vitamins, plus a plan to eat healthfully. But this was totally doable. I loaded up the cooler with healthful choices, made a pasta-veggie salad for dinner, and off we went, Friday after work.

When we'd found out I'd need radiation, we changed plans--we'd been intending to camp a couple nights to save money, but decided a hotel might be better as I was recovering. So our first night was spent in a random, okay-ish, hotel in Illinois. It was cleaner than camping, right? Maybe? I did appreciate a bed, a roof, and a convenient bathroom.

The next day was more exciting, as we made it to New River Gorge National Park exactly in time for the restrooms to have just closed. But the view was spectacular, and I felt plenty well for a short hike (lots of stairs, even!), and then a longer one. There's nothing that takes you farther away from cancer treatment than mountains.

Plus, we had none of the predicted rain on our hike--but we did drive through it on our way. Remember how we had been planning to camp? The deluge of rain we drove through would've made camping just miserable. It did, however, make the drive pretty cool: the misty clouds drifting across the windy road through the mountains made for an exciting drive ("Look, Mom, I'm licking a cloud!").

As many of the area hotels were booked/super expensive by the time I got around to making our reservations (remember, we had to change plans last-minute--I normally plan way ahead), we got creative with our accommodations. On Airbnb I found a camper available, right on the bank of New River Gorge. It was the very, very coolest--the next best thing to camping! (Or, if you're past 40, possibly the best thing.)

Unfortunately, the posting said it only accommodated 4 people. So back when making resevervations, I played the cancer card and asked: can we pitch a tent, or squeeze one more person in on the floor, since we had to change plans due to my recent radiation treatment for cancer? The host had agreed, and revealed that the camper actually did have another sleeping space that he wasn't sure he wanted to advertise, but he was happy to let us try it out.

The tour of the camper, once we arrived, took 30 minutes or so, as we learned all the ins and outs of the camper lifestyle. It sounded complicated. I was kind of glad we were just renting. We then roasted hot dogs, cooked up some beans, and had ourselves a cozy dinner as the sun finished setting. So perfect.

Although our host offered to blow up some innertubes and let us swim the next morning (and stay longer if we wanted to at no cost!), it was too cold for tubing and we were hoping to fit in another hike before moving on. We reluctantly packed up and headed out. But more wonders awaited us!

Check out what Matt found on the trail, under the very first log he overturned! It's a salamander. He was really hoping to find one! It turns out that Elise, also, had not lived before she saw this salamander.

Guess how many more salamanders he found under alllll the other logs Elise convinced him to overturn! Zero. He definitely tried.

We hiked along an offshoot of the New River before hopping in the car, making a quick stop at a visitor center for passport stamps and souvenirs, and continuing on our way to Shenandoah National Park.

New River Gorge was free to visit, but Shenandoah would've cost us $30. Except for the fact that we were traveling with a 4th (kinda 5th, but for the purposes of this trip, 4th) grader! It was Naomi's turn to get us into all kinds of things for free or reduced admission. In fact, during the course of the trip, since it was Homeschool Week at the Virginia attractions, we only paid full price at two places: Monticello and the beach ($7 parking), saving us $250 or so.

Driving into Shenandoah, we were on a major lookout for bears. Because... bears!! The park was apparently crawling with them. We'd arrived in the late afternoon/early evening again, but were able to squeeze in a lovely hike with excellent views, and boulders to climb. We were delighted to see that our path was formed in part by the Appalachian Trail! How cool!

We managed to drive all the way to a gift shop, and get our passports stamped. Shenandoah is a very long park, so this was an accomplishment--and one we were hoping not to have to repeat the next day.

On our way out of the park and to our comfy hotel room (with a roof!) for the night, we again drove through torrential rain. I experienced it firsthand dashing out of the car and into a Little Caesar's (our first non-cooler/hotel-breakfast food of the trip!). Again, so glad we'd canceled the camping reservations for that evening. Wow, was that a fantastic decision. Lukewarm, rather bad (yet strangely delicious!) pizza eaten on a hotel bed watching animal shows on cable, and not trekking down a rain-soaked path to the bathroom, was quite a good way to spend the evening.

The next morning we took another hike, again along the AT. On this one, we spotted more salamanders, in the "eft" stage, or something like that. They were adorable. We had to pull Elise away. We also kept noticing large millipedes, which were not Naomi's favorite. But we managed.

And then we continued on our path east, to Monticello. We lamented that, despite lots of trying, we had not seen a single bear.

Monticello was a great stop. The girls and I had all read books related to Thomas Jefferson over the summer, and we enjoyed spouting knowledge and seeing the places we'd read about. After a super dull, obvious, desperate-to-be-redone-and-greatly-improved overview movie at the video, plus a hunt for a horse stuffed animal (for Naomi, who had pre-chosen this as her souvenir), we boarded the bus to the house itself.

The inside looked nothing like I remembered it, but was gorgeous and full of character. The girls and I could've holed up in the library for a while, if we'd been allowed. After the official tour, we explored the grounds, which included the kitchens underneath the house and the slave outbuildings. The girls, although pining for their national parks, seemed ready and willing to enjoy history. And Matt's always inquisitive with this kind of thing. So it promised to be a good week at Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown!

That evening, we finally arrived at the resort (yes, resort!) we'd be staying at for the rest of the week--5 nights. The deal had seemed to good to be true: a kitchen, living space, a separate bedroom. But it wasn't! In fact, we received more than we bargained for: a whole second bathroom, and a loft family room/bedroom that the girls were able to make their own bedroom! And a window seat, which turned into Naomi's favorite spot. It was roomy, comfortable, and probably very cheaply built. We were delighted.

The next day, Tuesday, was earmarked for our beach day, as the weather looked the sunniest and warmest in a week of potential rain.

Normally on our beach trips, we stay in oceanside accommodations. This sounds snooty, I know. It's a splurge we've decided is well worth it. This time, however, we were an hour away, so we needed to pack everything we'd need, and commit to staying on the beach alllll day.

This feels like a big deal when you're under strict orders to avoid sun. Keeping my (borrowed) hat and sun shirt on whenever I wasn't under an umbrella put a damper on things, but I'm not really one for a lot of sun anyway.

The beach didn't disappoint, but it did wear us out, especially near the end of the day when the waves were really big. Elise collected her plankton samples, and with the promise of ice cream to celebrate her beach birthday (with a birthday coming up, we had to use the opportunity, right?), we managed to herd everyone to the car without much trouble. They were tired. We were all tired, just standing there and staring at the waves but without the energy to do anything about them. And that says a lot for us.

We ended up with grocery-store ice cream and cones, which meant that for less than a beach ice-cream-cone apiece, we could have ice cream every day of our vacation. For the win!

The next day was our first at Colonial Williamsburg. Many things looked different from what I remembered, but the bathroom, somehow, smelled exactly the same!!! Not a bad smell, probably just one of old tile. Also like the post office where I grew up. Oh, the memories!

We'd purchased our homeschool-discount passes online, so all we needed to do was board the bus, and we were on our way. We couldn't resist stopping at the Governor's Palace first. Somehow, it's all more interesting when you're an adult, but the girls thought many of the furnishing were beautiful. I could tell Kalina was itching to play the harpsichord.

We beat the maze!

And when our tour finished, there was the Marquis de Lafayette just beginning his speech! We stayed for the whole thing, and then tackled the hedge maze. The kids beat the parents to the center, but Matt and I got there eventually. So fun!

We packed in as much as we could that day and the next, only stopping for the quickest cooler lunches we could manage. Some highlights were Kalina and Naomi playing the harpsichord at the cabinet maker's shop and Elise challenging Thomas Jefferson on some of his somewhat hypocritical ideas (the actor did a spectacular job helping her see multiple angles). We heard from George Washington and Martha Washington (one of Naomi's favorites), saw a street play, heard about the mystery of George Wyth's death, visited the bakery both days (you get to do that when you eat lunch out of the cooler), and watched the militia march and play down the street.

The trade shops also couldn't be beat. The wigmaker was a favorite of mine (for obvious reasons), and we also loved the shoemaker, milliner, apothecary, and others. So fascinating, we could've passed a whole morning at any of them.

Needless to say, we were exhausted each evening. Our respite, after dinner, was to watch America's Got Talent. It was... less high quality than Colonial Williamsburg. But also educational.

I got a role in the courtroom
drama activity! I'm standing
on the far right, trying to
convince the judge that a
guy who stayed at my inn
needs to pay for his stay. (I won)

We were also grateful, at Williamsbug, to satisfy Naomi's shopping itch. Having reread the Felicity books before our trip, and also survived horseback riding, she was hoping to find a sweet brown stuffed horse that she could name Penny. She found a real-life sweet brown foal, but wasn't able to take that home. She also just loved looking through the shops in general (like her mom!!). Eventually, we found a close-enough little horse, and I convinced her that Jamestown and Yorktown weren't likely to provide anything better (they didn't). Kalina and Elise satisfied themselves with the occasional t-shirt and keychain throughout the trip.

The next day, already a bit exhausted by history, we visited the new Jamestown Settlement museum. I was fascinated, Matt was interested, and the girls were... tired, but good sports. It was about twice as long as I expected it to be, but I found some interesting parts for the girls. We then explored the recreated settlement, which included the Jamestown fort and ships, as well as a Wampanoag settlement where they were making a dugout canoe. Since Elise kinda sorta wants to make one herself, this was a great stop.

After returning to our hotel for a late lunch, we drove to Yorktown for as quick of a visit as possible that would still allow us to have a meaningful visit. We loved seeing George Washington's tent, and then we drove around the battlefield sites. The girls were about as interested as I was as a kid.

We all agreed that history is best absorbed when spread out a bit--but also that we had to take advantage of opportunities.

Finally, we spent a chilly evening at Yorktown beach. This was in no way the same as Virginia Beach but the girls found some little crabs they could build an island for, so it worked out.

Our final stop before turning our car homeward was the actual Jamestown historic site. I'd been wanting to see this for a good 16 years, but we were in a bit of a rush since we also wanted to get on the road. And also because we'd seen a lot of history already. But there were a few highlights! In the church, we learned from a super informative docent that Shakespeare's The Tempest had been based on the supply ship that shipwrecked, and didn't arrive at Jamestown as expected, causing the Starving Time. This was exciting to us as we'd seen the play over the summer, but didn't know that connection. We also loved the glasshouse, where we got to watch a few pieces being made. I also loved other parts, and would've liked more time... I might have to go back.

The glass blower. Again,
could've watched all day!

On the way home, we nearly finished the license plate game, and also managed to check one other thing off our list: bears!! Driving through the Appalachian Mountains, we spotted (and nearly hit), a momma bear crossing the road with her two cubs. Even more miraculous, everyone in our car managed to see them. Yay!

I'm not sure I've ever been so grateful for a vacation--but even if I hadn't just spent most of my year treating cancer, it would've been a fantastic trip. I'm not sure I convinced any of my girls to like history more than the beach, but they all loved Williamsburg and would totally go back. With me. Soon.*

*Except we'll probably go somewhere else instead. For variety. But it's nice to know that they would. :)